Difficulties in playing card games for handicapped adults, are in many ways similar to those encountered by small children. Children have difficulty in sorting and arranging the cards, and then in holding them so that they can see each individual card. Problems are not over once the cards are dealt. They may persist throughout the length of the game. It can be even more difficult to hold cards in an arranged state than to initially sort them. In many games selecting and withdrawing a card from the hand requires another rearrangement of the cards.
None of the known card holders would suffice to permit a person completely disabled on one side and partially on the other to participate in a game such as contract bridge. The partially disabled hand could not grip a fanned hand of cards, nor would a second hand be available to insert and remove selected cards. In addition were such a party confined to a wheel chair, he or she might not be able to have close enough access to a card table to play games with others or to play games such as solitaire.
Thus, it can be seen that the problems to be solved by a card holding device do not stop at merely holding a number of cards in a convenient arrangement. The card holding device must also be directed towards ease in removing cards from the holder without disturbing the remaining arrangement. Moreover, the cardholder should be self-supporting, so that it may rest on the lap, or on the arms of a wheel chair, and allow the user to freely use his hands in sorting, arranging, and selecting cards.